Adira Clawhauser
by sealbeibei
Summary: This prequel story tells the tale of Adira Clawhauser, Benjamin's elder sister. She was an elite cop, who stopped her service at the ZPD due to a terrible tragedy. It also explains the relationship of Benjamin Clawhauser and Chief Bogo in the movie.
1. Chapter 1

Mansa Bogo was fuming.

Officers gave him the widest berth in the corridor, while cheerfully chattering among themselves about the new recruits,

'Oh man this new batch of freshmen looks nice! Look at the cheetah at the front! I wonder who got paired up with her…'

'Do you think she'll say yes if I ask her out?'

'Of course not, she's mine.'

'Look at her legs, look at how slim and elegant she looks…'

Mansa hated her. He hated the new system at the ZPD that pairs up new recruits with senior officers. He hated the way that everyone was drooling all over her, trying to get their hands on her. He hated his boss, who refused to take them apart despite all the buffalo's rage and complaints against him.

'I don't want her.'

'Take good care of her, okay? She's…'

'I said, I DON'T WANT HER!'

'She's one of the best out there. Her agility is remarkable and is extremely useful for you. You need her.'

'I'm fine on my own. I don't care if she's good. Let her work alone then!'

'Calm down, Bogo. I know you don't care. In fact, you care too little. Recklessly charging in every time, visiting the hospital every week… I hope having a partner to take care of will change you.'

Mansa glowered at the lion sitting opposite of him,' I'm flattered. Don't you just do paperwork all day and send people out to die?'

The chief slammed his paw on the table,' Fine! If you don't take her, work at records then. I'm not sending you out to more field work. At this rate I'll be attending you funeral next week!'

Mansa stood up,' Is that your final decision… sir?' He added as an afterthought.

'Finally somebody gets it, now be a good boy and don't break anything on your way out.' The lion watched Mansa walk towards the door with closed fists,' especially the door.'

He didn't even wince when the glass on the door shattered with a slam.

* * *

Mansa sat down at the canteen after settling his tray on an empty bench. He looked at the others while he ate in silence. He saw Higgins and Mchorn give him a wave and continued the rowdy discussion with the others. It struck him that he didn't really have friends in the force, or any at all for that matters. Mansa liked his fellow officers, but he had seen quite a few tragedies that he decided it was not worth it to befriend someone who is constantly in danger of dying anymore, not when it hurt so much that the loss broke the others' heart and he never saw some of the officers come to work ever again.

He preferred to be lonely, to not shed tears for fallen comrades, to charge in and bring justice to those who dared to challenge the law while others mourn. The buffalo pondered on his thought for a moment, not noticing the whole table of officers was already sitting around him.

'So what do you think of Clawhauser?' A punch from Delgato brought the thinking buffalo back to his senses.

'Excuse me, who?'

'The girl who is a cheetah, I heard that she's the best of her class, just like you.' A wolf piped in.

'Er… okay I guess.' Mansa stammered. As much as he didn't want to be partners with the cheetah, he didn't want to give a bad name to someone he had yet to meet.

'Oh wow… that's the first time you give someone a positive comment.' Trunkaby said in awe, while still shoveling food in her mouth.

'Eew, Francine. Beware of your manners!' 'Sorry, sorry…'

'Look, we've never heard you talk about dating. Is she the one that finally deserves your love?'

'What, no!'

'Or… are you gay?' A mischievous voice slipped though the wide bodies of the officers…

Mansa stood up. 'I'm leaving.' He said defiantly.

The officers opened up a gap for him and he walked through it without a backward glance, where officers are once again picking and commenting on the new recruits on their graduation photo.

'What's her name again?' 'Adira Clawhauser, it fits her so well…'

Mansa Bogo had reports to file in, and no friends to make.

He just wanted to be alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Adira Clawhauser was used to the attention.

She was always the spotlight, the one everybody beloved. She was friends with every classmate, even the black sheep on her class, whom she bossily befriended and invited to lunch over and over again until they succumb to her enthusiasm.

Even teachers adored her for her wits and agility, ignorant to the fact that she did break rules occasionally. Adira had made sure to engage at a discrete spot before pummeling Benjamin's bullies to a pulp in a flash.

She had a perfect family with supportive parents and a little brother who looked up to her to an almost fantasized degree, well not as much as he idolized Gazelle I suppose, she thought to herself with a chuckle.

She liked herself, and everyone else seemed to enjoy her presence, except for one buffalo.

* * *

Adira had been waiting for this day for her whole life, the first day as an official police. She got up extra early and took the first train to city central, where she finally arrived at the famed precinct one. She couldn't help but notice how vast and empty the station was, despite its modern design and multiple floors with beautiful glass railings. The lack of officers didn't help either. In fact, the other living mammal she could see was a cape buffalo.

He didn't seem very approachable, was the first impression Adira had on Bogo. She searched in vain for a sign of direction before finally giving up and walked up to Bogo,

'Hey, nice horns, where's the bullpen?'

A single hoof pointed towards a doorway.

'And your name?'

The same hoof retracted and tapped the badge on his right.

Adira was slightly annoyed,' I know you are Bogo. Who doesn't see the name tag? I mean your first name.'

At this point Bogo just remained silent, no matter what she tried to say to him.

Bogo was relieved to see her finally give up and prance toward the bullpen he pointed at, as his anger bubbled to a dangerous level.

'Well at least I kept calm at the first meeting.'

He was rather satisfied with himself for keeping his composure. Meanwhile Adira was grumbling under her breath as she walked,' What a tough nut to crack, who else would like him?'

She was determined to crack him later.

* * *

Adira was overwhelmed by the welcome the officers gave her. Once they started assembling in the bullpen, various mammals huddled around her and a few tried and failed to obtain her phone number. She made use of her popularity to ask a few things about Bogo, who was slouching at a corner,

'Is he always like that?'

'Well he's just a little mean that's all. He doesn't mean any harm so if he tries to offend you, don't worry about it.'

'Don't you guys try to invite him for a chat or something?'

'We try all the time. We all went and sat at HIS table yesterday lunch and he left us behind without joining in the conversation much. He just doesn't care much about morale and all.'

'And it doesn't help that he is always fighting the chief over small things, or trying to get himself killed.'

Adira scratched her chin thoughtfully while listening to others, and she beamed,

'I like that guy! Oh and by the way, I am assigned to be his partner.'

'Well good luck with that. You sure got some weird tastes.'

As the clock hands slowly but surely approached 8am, the officers excused themselves and shuffled back to their seats. Adira could hear them already betting on how long she could last before Bogo chuck her away to another senior.

* * *

'Attention!'

'What? I haven't been assigned anything yet!' Adira was befuddled.

'You're with me, parking duty.' Said a deep and grumpy voice.

She turned around in her seat and almost touched Bogo's crotch with her nose.

'But I live here! Why do I have to do parking duty?' Adira protested.

That alone twitched Bogo impatient nerve, 'Quit screwing around and get ready to move!'


	3. Chapter 3

Bogo inhaled and exhaled deeply as he inserted the key into the door lock. He was still calming down himself enough to drive a car.

'I feel ridiculous' said Adira, as she taped her reflective coat on.

Bogo just grunted and ignited the car engine.

'Hey at least we are doing it together right? I've never rode a large sized cruiser before… guess having a large mammal as a partner is a good thing, hmm?' Adira continued talking as she stretched luxuriously on her seat.

Bogo continued to ignore her.

'But why do I need to do parking duty? It's not like I don't know this city from head to tail.'

Bogo tried to explain in an almost bored tone like the chief instructed him to, even though he was about to explode,

'Parking duty is a well-known tradition that the ZPD has implemented for decades that allow new recruits to familiarize with Zootopian streets…'

'Then why do I have to do it even when I live…' Adria cut through his explanation.

'And a mentor is supposed to guide a newbie through shortcuts and hidey-holes that criminals use…'

'…here since I was born?'

'Can you just SHUT UP? Fuck it I'm never gonna explain about this to anyone from now on!'

Both Bogo and Adira jumped in their seat when the car radio came live,

'Ah, and it was going so well too! I'm pleased, very pleased to hear that you are improving, officer Bogo. Now with that in mind I'm going to keep Clawhauser under your care…'

The sentence was stopped by a fist on the radio.

'Wait the chief can hear us in the car?' Adira asked over the sizzling of the wrecked radio.

This time it was Adira's walkie-talkie that replied merrily, 'Yes, my lady. Technology nowadays is so amazing. I just happen to tap into your channel and remoted the radio. Now, now. Don't think about breaking Adira's antenna, Bogo. Your salary…'

Her walkie got snatched and bent anyway.

Bogo slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward with an unhealthy screech.

'Hey don't take it out on the car. It's not its fault.'

'Don't you DARE talk to me like that.'

'You know, big guy. I'm not scared of you and your shouting. So yell all you want, I'm listening.'

Bogo stopped the car and looked at his passenger, who was grinning at him without a trace of being intimidated by him. With a sinking feeling in his stomach he knew he had failed to scare her. He moodily ground his teeth, thinking hard of a way to get rid of her, and was about to drive forward again until he heard Adira talking to him again,

'You know what, this is going nowhere. We aren't doing our job properly. Let's have a bet.'

'grrr…?'

'If you write more tickets than me this today, I'll apply for a precinct change so you don't have to see me anymore. Vice versa, you can't get rid of me using some kind of lowly methods if I win… and yes, I know you will if I don't do anything about it.'

Bogo thought hard. What's she planning? Does she have a plan to win this without the knowledge of meter hot spots? No, to dump her, I don't have to accept this challenge…

Then he realized he was already in her trap. There's no way for him, as a senior officer and a proud buffalo, can flee from this duel. The only thing he could do was to say yes and try his best to not lose, or get stuck with this overly witty cheetah for at least a year. He was basically backed into a corner by a newbie.

'Oh and by the way, no cars allowed. We are doing this on foot.'

* * *

Bogo cursed under his breath over and over again. The contest had turned an easy and leisure job into a hot, sweaty and exhausting job that he had to give his best. He stumbled forward sluggishly from one road to another, following the route he used so many years ago back when he had to take parking duty every day of the week. His trousers were smeared with sweat he wiped from his snout.

He was so tired that he didn't notice Adira following him along the rooftops.

Adira had a plan to win. She studied Bogo's route for an hour and marked it down on her notebook. Seeing him go inside the cruiser for a drink, she slivered down onto the street along a water pipe and started retracing Bogo's steps.

She was going to deny him every ticket for the rest of the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

'Since when are the others so efficient at metering…'

Bogo licked his nose clean. He was simply too tired to wipe it with his hoof anymore after striding under the scorching sun for another lap, approaching cars with expired meters hopefully and coming to a halt after seeing a ticket sticking out of the blades.

The sweat tasted as salty as him. His insides squirmed with restlessness and discomfort from the lack of a proper breakfast and too much caffeine. He was thinking of getting a wheat grass muffin and nice cup of juice when his radio crackled,

'Attention patrols. We have a 487 at Cat's Eye. Suspects identified as four rodents and are heading south along Southern Street.'

'This is Officer Bogo. I'm en route, out.'

This might not be the worst day after all, Bogo thought, as he turned the car key and switched the sirens on.

He always enjoyed having the sirens on. The eerie wailings reminding him once again why he became a cop as he sped past car after car along Walnut Street, eyes fixated at the front.

'Knock, knock, knock…'

It was until Bogo stopped at a crossroad did he remember that he had a partner, whose radio was wrecked. He looked at the broken radio on the car floor and found that he was not sorry at all.

'Knock, knock…'

Bogo finally noticed the noise coming from his right and turned his head toward the source. His eyes widened in shock as he stared straight into Adira's reproachful eyes.

* * *

Adira was trying to slip a ticket beneath the wipers of a tiny car when her ears twitched at the sound of distant sirens approaching. She looked up and watched the police car drive up to her. She recognized the driver as her partner.

'How come I never know there's a case going on?' Adira thought as she waved at Bogo to stop.

And the cruiser whisked past her.

'Hey!' Adira turned and started running after the car. She out sped it with ease and was quickly gaining on it. With a mighty leap she pounced and landed lightly on the roof of the police.

Just like in the spy movies, fun and exciting, Adira thought as she steadied herself,. She patted the metal shell signaling Bogo to stop, but the car kept powering forward.

Either Bogo was pranking her or he was oblivious at all that happened, Adira wondered, as she stayed as flat as possible to prevent herself from getting blown off.

The fun started to dwindle for Adira after a minute of clutching onto the car. Her claws were slipping on the metal, her eyes forced shut by the wind and dust, and the wailing of sirens was deafening her ears. She slipped down the moment Bogo braked before a red traffic light and hammered the window repeatedly to get his attention.

'Let me in!' Bogo could see her plead, and he unlocked the door. Adira fled inside immediately and buckled her seat belt.

'You were trying to keep all the fun to yourself huh?' Adira pouted, 'not to mention you made me ride on top of this car for minutes.'

Bogo was immensely bemused by how she looked: completely baffled, fur messed up and distraught like a kitten dunked in water. He suppressed his grin before told her,

'You asked for it.'

And indeed he was right.


	5. Chapter 5

'Suspect now on the run on a red Daewoof van…'

Bogo's radio kept them updated. Adira squinted around, trying to find the stolen van. Suddenly she saw a tiny van speed through the underbelly of a giraffe bus and turn left, leaving light skid marks.

'There it is! Bogo, turn right!'

'Where? I don't see it.' Bogo turned right anyway.

Adira was exasperated, 'Right between the blue car and the red! Speed up, they are getting away!'

Bogo still could not pinpoint the exact van Adira was talking about. Sight never was a strong point of a buffalo, yet he followed Adira's instructions flawlessly, weaving between the traffics.

'They entered Little Rodentia.'

'Dammit! We lost them.' Bogo let go of the steering wheel.

'Not yet.' Adira got out of the car and leaped onto the fence of the tiny community, 'I can still see them!' And she sped off, treading along the fence ever so lightly with her paws so the metal rods were not damaged.

Bogo could only wait in the car, feeling utterly useless. There was no way he could enter without breaking anything, or just to identify the suspects among hundreds of tiny cars. He switched off the sirens.

All he could do was report the latest findings to the station, and wait.

* * *

Adira kept moving along the perimeter on all fours, following the van closely. Suddenly the van stopped and one of the rodents got off. Adira waited until the chipmunk left Little Rodentia through the eastern exit and snatched him before he could take more than two steps.

Now Adira was stuck. She could not run on three limbs on the fence fast enough and she did not have handcuffs on her. There was barely time to cuff him before losing sight of the van anyway. If she had put the chipmunk in one of her pockets he would just escape. Besides, the rodent she caught did not have a bag with him. Did she catch the wrong mammal?

Then she saw the chipmunk's bulging cheek pouches and realized how they stole all the jewelry. She decided to borrow their idea.

With the suspect in her mouth and back on the wall, she continued hunting down the remaining suspects. She was annoyed by the struggling and muffled screams in her mouth so she threatened to chomp down on the chipmunk. The struggling ceased at once.

Rats never ever stood a chance against cats. That reminded Adria of the super popular cartoon she used to watch as a kid with her little brother. She picked the criminals off one by one running anti-clockwise around the town and followed the van back to the entrance.

The squirrel driving was relieved when he thought their plan worked out perfectly. He was thinking about how to spend the money they made from the heist when a heavy hoof slammed down from the sky in front of her. With a yelp the he crashed the Daewoof straight into the hardened keratein.

The airbags worked perfectly, luckily for him. The squirrel coughed and spluttered, trying to get out of the van. Bogo tore the tiny vehicle apart and swiftly cuffed the rodent before he could climb out of the wreckage.

Bogo looked up and saw Adira walk up to him empty-handed. He asked darkly,

'You didn't lose them did you, there's supposed to be four suspects.'

Adira shook her head and pointed towards her mouth. It took Bogo a full second of looking at her bulging mouth to understand what's going on.

Bogo's blood rushed to his head. He grabbed Adira by the collar and flung her unceremoniously into the cruiser.

'Mmm…mmm…mmm!'

'Criminals are supposed to be arrested not eaten!' Bogo bellowed, 'Your actions represent the ZPD and you just shamed all of us!'

Seeing no retaliation from the new recruit, he started driving back to first precinct while Adira slowly fastened her seatbelt, head turned away from Bogo to hide her tears.

* * *

After dropping the rodents off at the retainment cells, Bogo dragged Adira off to the chief's office. He opened the glassless door and pushed her in.

'Officer Bogo, may I ask what is it this time?' The chief was scribbling on a report.

'Clawhauser manhandled the suspects, sir! She stuffed them in her mouth after catching them!'

'I see… Clawhauser, how many did u catch?'

'Three, sir.' Adira answered stiffly.

'I must say, well done! To think that you are able to catch three criminals on the first day, securing them with such a… uh exotic way, you have a bright future, my young cat lady.'

'But she broke the protocols of the police! She has dishonored the ZPD!'

'Now, now… Bogo. I see you're making a big fuss about the rules. Isn't catching the bad guy that matters in the end? I don't see a problem and neither should you. Nice work, both of you, I'm giving you both the rest of the day off.'

Bogo kept glaring at the lion, who was grinning at him and Adira.

'Run along and enjoy the sunshine!'

'Hey Bogo, wait up!'

Adira ran after Bogo, who was storming off from the chief's office.

The chief watched them go. It wasn't great to close the door himself, but at least Bogo broke nothing this time. Maybe he should brand the words 'CHIEF LIONHEART' on the glass using this opportunity.

He whipped out his phone and dialed the number of Catlas Door Repair Company, adding the print to the bucket list of requirements.


	6. Chapter 6

'Don't make me hit a girl.'

Adira blocked Bogo's way with her opened arms, 'Listen to me! I know I was wrong, but I did what had to be done!'

'What you should do, is stay behind and be pals with the chief with all his kitty catty nonsense!'

Adira responded loftily, 'What makes you then? The lone, dumb buffalo who can't do any…'

She narrowly dodged his kick,'…thing without his kitten?'

'And I must remind you, brawling in public is a violation of the law you love so much.' Adira said while still dodging Bogo's attacks. The assault stopped.

'If you want to hurt me so much, come down to the gym for a proper spar after lunch. I'll be waiting for you at the ring. That's the LEGAL way of settling this.'

Adira turned and started walking towards the canteen.

* * *

'You didn't even have lunch.' Adira scowled at Bogo as she climbed onto the ring. She couldn't help but notice how Bogo was watching her with burning eyes the whole time she was nibbling on a cheese sandwich.

He is still eyeing her reproachfully as he put on boxing gloves. Adira strapped hers on and offered a fist bump,

'Adira Clawhauser, ZPD cadet.'

She frowned when Bogo made no motion to meet her fist, 'Hey at least give your opponent some respect. You're a man, aren't you?'

Bogo was a little taken aback and answered gruffly, 'Mansa Bogo, ZPD detective.'

The bump knocked Adira off her feet. She barely got up when Bogo's first punch approached her faster than she imagined. She ducked and got on all fours.

It was exhilarating, Adira thought. She was glad that the buffalo was not holding anything back. She dodged left, right and up along the ropes as she circled him while Bogo was attacking with an almost frenzied expression.

Bogo was enjoying himself. He was a tough buffalo and could take hits from Adira while she would be out cold for a week in the hospital if any of his punches connect. Run, run like the little cheetah you are. Bogo thought scathingly.

Adira was quickly getting tired. None of her attacks seemed to have any effect on Bogo's tough skin and her stamina was depleting faster than she imagined after dancing around the ring for minutes. Yet she was not ready to concede. She did not plan to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher either.

She forced herself to slow down, to dodge at the very last second so Bogo's fist brushed her uniform. Adira slowly lured Bogo into a corner, where she leaned against the pole and panted.

'Do it... I know you want to. Come on, now…' Adira watched Bogo wind up his charge, still feinting her exhaustion.

Bogo saw Adira back into the corner. He wasted no time and lowered his horns for the charge, determined to pin her against the pole until she begged for mercy. A few cracked ribs would also serve her right.

He charged right at the cheetah, convinced that she had no more energy to run. It was too late when he felt his horns being pushed forward and Adira disappeared in front of him. All that was left for him to knock out was the ring post.

Adira watched the cape buffalo's dangerous horns approach with immense power and precision. She took a deep breath before back flipping onto the post, and vaulted over Bogo with a push on his head. She tried to land inside the ring, at least what's left of it. But she could not find a stable footing and lost her balance anyway.

Bogo could not stop his forward momentum. With a gut-wrenching screech he tore the whole ring apart with his charge. The post he knocked into flew away from him and the rest of the poles followed suit, connected by the tough ring ropes. Without enough support, the ring collapsed and Bogo found himself landing hard a metre below where he started. It did not really hurt, but it took him a while to get his breath back.

Adira jumped and looked down at the winded buffalo lying at her feet. She grinned, 'That was fun. Let's do it again sometime later!'

Bogo could not remember the last time he blew off so much steam. He rolled over to his back and stared at the celing, feeling properly hungry and tired in years. He longed for his muffin and juice and agreed,

'Yeah… let's do it again.'

Adira pulled the buffalo up, or at least offered to, and pulled him towards the exit,

'C'mon Mansa, I know that one place that serves excellent muffins and I can't wait to have a tea!'

Mansa could only smile as he let himself dragged out of the station. It was good to have a friend after all.

* * *

The next day Mansa found a bunch of officers huddle around a computer. He peeked over others' heads and saw, to his astonishment, photos of Adira wearing the meter maid uniform.

'What are these.'

'Ah Bogo, we are less lucky than you. We didn't get to see Adira as meter maid with our own eyes.'

'At least we get these photos though!'

Mansa's ears turned red. He remained silent as he pulled the USB out of the computer and crushed it with his bare hoof.

'What did you just do?'

Bogo watched in satisfaction as some of them stomped in frustration.

'We haven't got the chance to copy them yet!'

'Well at least the original is still at the chief's…' Mchorn tried to cover Higgin's wide snout, but it was too late. Mansa had already walking up the stairs to the chief's office, finally knowing why Adira was assigned parking duty.

'Sir, may I have the photos that the others are all looking at?' Mansa asked extra politely.

'Well, well, Bogo. Finally joining in the fun? I thought you wouldn't need those seeing that you are her partner. Keep it safe.' Lionheart took out a memory card and gave it to Mansa.

Everyone, including officers who were peeking in through the office door hole, watched in horror as the card got slowly reduced to powder.

'Thank you, sir.' Mansa said with a bow.

Adira saw all of this, and decided to thank him.

After that day, Mansa Bogo was seen having a pair of glasses in his breast pocket wherever he went.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been three years since Adira joined the ZPD. She liked her job a lot, and Benjamin loved listening to her on duty stories after dinner, but she never thought her brother would want to be a cop.

'Sis, I want to join the ZPD too! You'll help me, right?' Benjamin asked her one day after dinner.

'Is it something to do with Gazelle?' Adira asked warily.

'Tee hee hee, not really. I always wanted to be like you, fighting the bad guys and be all like "don't worry loves, the cavalry's here!'

'I don't do that.'

'That's reason number one. Number two, Gazelle just said that she admires the ZPD a lot at her latest interview. Watch here, that's the video I'm talking about!' and he pushed his phone awfully close to Adira's face.

'No thanks, I knew it would be something like that anyway.' Adira keenly avoided looking at the screen. Years and years of persuasion from her brother to love Gazelle had made her fear the pop singer nearly like the plague. She was slightly annoyed when Benjamin refused to back up and continued looking at her with his big brown eyes while cupping his face,

'So… you'll help me right, Sis?'

Adira sighed as she saw Benjamin use his 'baby doll eyes' tactic to ask for what he wants again. When it came to positivity and stubbornness, she was not even close to beating her brother.

'Fine, but it's gonna be tough. Training, diet, no donuts, and I won't let you quit halfway into the career. You still up for it?'

'Of course! I would do anything to get my angel to notice me. Thanks, sis!' he gave her a big hug and rubbed his cheeks on Adira affectionately.

'Ugh… get off, get off me!' Adira broke his comfy embrace somewhat reluctantly and watched her brother bounce into his bedroom humming happily.

She shook her head, 'He's not gonna make it.'

But she had to try, right? It's not like anyone can say 'no' to his adorable face, and he gives the best hugs in the world.

She just hoped that someone other than her in the force would appreciate him.

* * *

The day of interview had come sooner than Adira hoped, and she was picking Benjamin's clothes for him.

'No, Ben. You are not wearing that to a job interview.' Adira told him sternly, eyeing the pink T-shirt with a huge 'I "heart" Gazelle' on it with distaste. 'You should wear a suit, or at least a shirt and tie.'

Benjamin's snuggled into his shirt with some difficulty, and Adira swiftly tied his tie for him. Then Adira draped his coat over his body and attempted to button the only two ones the coat had.

'Ben, try to breathe out, would you? I can't button your coat like this.'

'I'm trying!'

Adira tried again. The button still came far from meeting the right hole. She pulled hard, and somehow managed to lodge one of the buttons into the right place.

She moved back and looked at him fully. She tried not to laugh.

'I look ridiculous, don't I?' Tears were starting to well up in Benjamin's eyes.

'No no no, you look fine. It's just that the suit looked a little bit small…'

'I can't breathe. Can I take it off now?' Benjamin whined.

Adira sighed. There was no way that Benjamin could go to the interview in his graduation suit. Even if he could somehow hold his breath the whole way to the station in one piece, a whiny cheetah was not going to appeal to anyone anyway.

'Take it off, Ben. Just promise me you'll wear something with a collar tomorrow, and answer the questions like I asked you to.'

She just hoped a laxer officer would be the examiner tomorrow. Anything but Mchorn, she prayed as she shifted around in her bunker with Ben purring peacefully in his sleep at the lower bunk, or his little dream would be crushed way before the real challenge starts.

Her worst fear was confirmed when assignments were distributed once again in the next morning. Mchorn was not assigned any and he looked surlier than usual. Adira took her files and started walking towards the armory for equipment.

She was going to do something about the situation at hand. Lucky for her she had made quite a few friends at the armory who can provide her the tools she needed to make Mchorn a little sick to be an examiner.

A lot in fact, Adira changed her mind. That guy was a real beast.


	8. Chapter 8

Adira was happily greeted by a hedgehog at the armory, 'Hey Adira! What can I do for you today? Seeker mines? Shock traps?'

'Hey, Splinter. I know it sounds weird but I'm not looking for gadgets today. I need some laxatives, really fast ones too.'

'For whom?' Splinter asked, 'I need to know who it is so I can give you the right amount to be affective while not sending the guy to hospital on a stretcher from the lavatory.'

Adira hesitated. It was the first time she had to intentionally use something harmful to her colleagues.

'Look, after last time, I owe you big time. I'll help you no matter what and you can trust me to keep quiet.'

Adira smiled when he mentioned the incident that landed Mansa in a very bad place. They were thinking of giving him a pair of gloves for his horns in the ring as they were too dangerous naked. Splinter made tubes out of rubber and asked Adira to put them on Mansa's head before one of their routine spars.

That didn't go well at all, Adira recalled. The protective equipment stuck to his horns like glue and would not come off no matter what they try. At last they had to burn it off from his horn and it was the first time Adira saw Bogo in tears, swearing to never let anyone touch his horns ever again.

Bogo never knew exactly who made the gloves because Adira kept quiet about it, and it took Adira a few buckets of sugarcane juice just to calm him down.

'It's for Mchorn. My brother is going to the interview today and I need him to not be the interviewer for the afternoon.' Adira's eyes widened as she saw Splinter weigh a baseball sized lump of white powder on the balance, 'THAT much?'

'The worst that can happen is that he becomes quite dehydrated. Now I'm going to put all this into his energy bar and he'll be gone for at least five hours.'

'Can you give me some laxatives too? Just in case things don't work out.'

'Yes, but only this much.' Splinter glazed a handful of the salt with caramel and sealed it into a sugar packet, 'Slip this into his drink if you must, but this batch hurts a lot more.'

'Thanks.' Adira pocketed the 'sugar'.

'Tell your brother I said good luck.'

'Why? He doesn't even know you yet.'

'I'm sure he will.'

* * *

Adira waited anxiously at the canteen. Mchorn just finished interviewing the appliers for the morning and only wrote a tiny list of suitable candidates. He took his tray of food and picked up his energy bar Splinter had already spiked with laxative.

Mchorn seemed to have less appetite than usual after sitting for the whole morning. Adira watched him play with his food and finally starting on his stew. After a while a hippo walked to his table. They exchanged a few words and Higgins took the bar away from Mchorn's tray.

Higgins was about to bite into the bar when he heard Adira panicky voice, 'No! Don't eat it!'

'Aargh?'

'Uh… it's the last of the coconut flavor. Can I trade my mango for it? I've been looking for coconut everywhere…'

'Oh okay. You don't mind if the bar is already opened. And whoops… I drooled on it.'

'It's fine.' Adira snatched his energy bar and stuffed the mango flavored one in his hand, 'I'll be sure to cut off the bit with saliva on. Thanks, Higgins.'

'No problem, happy to help out a friend.'

Mchorn finally finished his stew and moved on to the cup of tea. With a snort of annoyance he found that he had forgotten to put sugar in it.

'Looking for this?' Adira tore open her pack of laxative and poured it into his tea.

'Thanks. You have something to say?' Mchorn was suspicious of Adira's sudden approach. He stirred the drink slowly and took a sip, 'Mmm…'

'Yeah, how did the interviews go?'

'Pretty decent.'

'But you don't seem to approve of a lot of the interviewees.'

The rhino gave another snort, 'It doesn't matter how fit they are. They just don't have what it takes to be a real cop. In other words, they are fragile crybabies. Better get crushed here than out in the field.'

Adira had one last question for Mchorn, 'Can you look at this photo? It's my brother. Do you think he can join the ZPD?'

Mchorn stared long and hard at the picture of a rotund beaming cheetah he was given. He was unsure if it was a joke or not, but she looked pretty serious.

'Not in a million years, Clawhauser.'

Adira was glad Mchorn had already finished his tea.


	9. Chapter 9

'We have an issue here.'

The chief told Adira and Mansa, who were the only ones at their offce,

'Mchorn just messaged me. Apparently he is hugging the toilet and can't interview the applicants for the afternoon.'

'Then just ask another officer to do it.' Bogo did not even bother to move his eyes away from the monitor.

'All the others have assignments out, Bogo. You're not on top of my list, I assure you, but it looks like the only one available for this job is you.'

'Why not Adira?' Bogo still refused to turn his head.

'Of course I prefer her, but for obvious reasons she just can't. So go to the report room and prepare, officer. Clawhauser will do your report for you.'

Bogo seethed,' I'll be there in five. Now can you please leave so I can finish my job here.'

After the chief left them, Adira looked over Bogo's shoulder at his laptop, 'What are you doing here that's so important?'

Bogo nearly jumped and swiftly closed his laptop with a snap, 'Nothing.' He shuffled off to the report room.

Adira could not believe her eyes. He was bidding for a Gazelle album on an auction site.

Maybe I'm just too familiar with this site, she pondered. Benjamin always pleaded with her to bid for him when he was not old enough.

* * *

Mansa sat down at the report room and skimmed through the files of candidates for the afternoon. He barely got through a few when a wolf officer led the first applicant in.

'Introduce yourself.' Mansa asked according to the list of questions prepared for him on a sheet.

'Why did you apply for the ZPD?'

'What is your greatest weakness?'

'…'

The first few interviews went quite well, but Mansa quickly got bored with the answers the applicants gave. Generic, bland answers that didn't really fit themselves kept coming out of their mouth. He stood up and stretched after he heard the door to report room close for god knows how many times.

He did not put down his hands in time when the door suddenly opened and a chubby cheetah in a green shirt waddled in.

'O M Goodness, you're hot…' Benjamin held his paws over his mouth but the last few words leaked through his hands and reached Mansa's ears muffled, 'I mean, you're so fit!' all the rehearsing with Adira completely forgotten by the sight of a stretching buffalo.

Mansa didn't know what to do, 'Uh… thanks?'

'Sorry sir, he got ahead of me and barged in.' the officer responsible for bring in mammals for interview apologized and closed the door.

Both Mansa and Benjamin were still standing when the cheetah said, 'I've never seen a buffalo with such gorgeous horns before. Can I touch them, please?'

'Of… of course.' Mansa stammered and Benjamin walked up to him. When he saw Benjamin stand on tiptoes trying to reach his horns, the buffalo lowered his head so Benjamin could gently caress the curved horns.

'Wow…' Clawhauser was awed by how big and strong the horns look and feel.

Bogo's ears glowed red from all the admiration he got from Benjamin, 'Uh… when you are done looking at my horn, please sit down. I need to ask you questions.'

Benjamin bounced around the table to his seat, 'Oh, right! I forgot I am here for the interview, whoopsie.'

Mansa's brain was still in shambles when he asked, 'Why did you apply for this job?' He messed up the sequence of the questions already.

'The first reason is because of Gazelle! I'm sure you know who she is. She said in a recent interview that she admires the ZPD so I came!'

'She did?'

'She did! And have you heard her newest song 'Waka Waka'?'

'I have.'

'Oh what do you think of it? I think it's fabulous...'

Benjamin went on a stream of complimenting Gazelle. About her new song, about how outspoken she was, about herself as a mammal, about her fan club…

Mansa could have enjoyed the conversation for hours, but the door to report room opened once again and the officer said, 'Sorry to interrupt, sir. But I'm afraid the interview needs to end now.'

'So soon?' Mansa didn't want Benjamin to go yet. They still have so much to discuss.

'It's been twenty minutes, sir. There are still mammals waiting outside.'

Bogo sighed, 'One moment.'

The officer nodded and went out.

Benjamin began talking again the moment he got out,

'Oooooh and I forgot to tell you the second reason. I like my sister a lot and she's one of the officers working here. Do you know her?'

There was only one cheetah at the first precinct. Mansa nodded, 'Yes, she was my partner when she first came here.'

'Then you must have solved cases with her! Can you tell me about them?'

Mansa looked at Benjamin's hopeful eyes and sighed, 'I'm afraid it'll have to be another time. Time's running out.'

'Aw, okay then. Thanks so much for your time!' Benjamin got up and gave Mansa a big hug.

The buffalo's legs weakened and the feeble feet wobbled at the comfy hug he was given. He watched Benjamin hop to the door and couldn't help but notice how round and squishy his bottom was.

'Dammit!' Mansa pinched himself for having such a creepy thought. He heaved a sigh and tried to calm down. It wasn't long before another applicant was led in by the wolf again.

He went through the rest of the interviews in a dazed state, asking the same questions over and over again.

* * *

'How did it go?' Adira asked when Mansa finally returned to his seat.

'Awful…' Mansa was still thinking about Benjamin, 'All of them don't qualify and your brother… he's okay but he needs a lot of hard work to pass the fitness test.'

'I know he isn't really the typical candidate you're looking for, but at least he's adorable right?'

She couldn't hear his reply because of the constant ruckus around them as everyone packed up to leave, nor see how red his ears still were.

'Yeah… he is…' Mansa sighed dreamily.


	10. Chapter 10

Mchorn threw a big tantrum in front of everyone about the hygiene of the canteen, so the chief had to force close the only restaurant at the station for FEHD additional checkups.

That's why Adira and Mansa were walking back to the station, with hands full of everyone's lunch takeaway.

'You always have to comply with everyone's requests.'

'Well everybody else is busy, so it doesn't hurt if I help them out with their lunches.'

'The problem is you bite off more than you can chew and come to me for help.'

'You can always say no. You just had to be a gentlemammal then I won't complain, right?'

Mansa sighed and hugged his cardboard box of lunches more securely. While both of them are struggling to carry so many at once, 90% of all the meals still fell on his shoulder.

'Since you are so helpful, I need you to help me out with an important matter too. Can you help me with Benjamin's training? You know… you're the one who let him through the interview so you're kinda responsible for his fitness test too. Am I right?' Adira had a few plans in mind to persuade him if he were to say no.

'YES! When, where? I'll make sure he can pass!' Mansa's chest grew warm at the prospect of seeing Benjamin again so soon.

Adira, on the other hand, was taken aback by his sudden enthusiasm, 'Woah there slow down. I've been thinking he needs weight training but I don't know how to get him to be better at it. Cheetahs traditionally fail the test and that's why you don't see many of us here. I barely passed myself. Can you handle that for me?'

'Of course, Adira. I'd like to.'

'All right then. He'll be yours for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and I'll take him to stamina training for the rest except Sunday.' Adira said thoughtfully.

'He… he'll be mine?' Mansa was shocked.

'I never thought you'd be the type to joke, Mansa.' Adira watched others tuck into their lunchbox hungrily before opening her own, 'Call me if you need anything during training, okay?'

* * *

Adira had planned her training programme for a long time. 800m run was a breeze to her, but the same rules don't apply to Benjamin. She had enforced a diet for a few days now, and the first training session just started.

Adira watched in pity as Benjamin dragged his body behind her. She had done everything his brother begged her to do except lifting the ban on snacks: let him wear his motivational Gazelle T-shirt, wear the same T-shirt herself, a break every 10 minutes, train at night, and yet he's struggling to keep up with Adira.

'Come on, you can do it!' Adira stopped and yelled at Benjamin, who was trying his best to run to her.

'I… can't… do… this… anymore…' Benjamin panted.

Adira couldn't hear him. She only saw his mouth move, and he collapsed.

'Hey Ben! Are you alright?' Adira slapped his face a few times. Benjamin seemed a bit disoriented.

Adira sighed, 'That's all for today. Come on, let's go home.'

Mansa's training would be ten times tougher than hers. She wondered what would happen tomorrow if Ben collapsed after running for 1 minute.

* * *

Mansa was a little surprised at how sulking Benjamin looked when he walked into the gym.

'What happened?'

Benjamin jumped on Mansa and started crying on his shoulder, 'I don't wanna do it anymore!'

Mansa was stunned that a cheetah was crying into him. He could only let him bawl out as much tears and snivel onto his workout clothes while awkwardly patting his back to calm him down.

'No… snacks! No… TV! Early… bed!' Benjamin hiccupped.

'But what about Gazelle? You said it is all for Gazelle right?' Mansa tried to cheer him up.

'Right! Gazelle! I'm not done yet!' Suddenly Benjamin stopped crying and landed on the floor.

Mansa looked at him gently like a fragile vase, 'Listen, Ben. I'm not trying to make you suffer but according to Adira this is going to be much tougher than yesterday. You are not meant to be strong. Tell me immediately if it is too much for you.'

'Okay.' Benjamin walked over and picked up one of the larger dumbbells on the bench.

'Woah.' He nearly dropped it on his feet. He tried lifting it a few times and quickly grew tired, 'This is really not easy is it?'

'No, it isn't.' Mansa agreed, 'But for Gazelle, right?'

'For Gazelle!' Benjamin tried his best and lifted the bells one last time, 'I'm beat. Can I go get some water?'

Mansa nodded, 'Go ahead. Be back soon.' He walked over to the bench and picked up the dumbbells. With a jolt of shock he found that those were the weights he brought for himself later. He ran after Benjamin,

'You can go now.'

'Wha? Do you really mean it? It's over?'

'I'm sure you can pass the test without a problem.' Bogo gave Benjamin a smile of approval, 'Those weights you lifted are way heavier than you need to. They're mine. So you don't need me anymore.'

'Yes! But… can I stay with you? I don't want to go home and let sis know. I want to continue "training" with you, please?' Benjamin looked hopefully at Mansa.

'I… I'll try, Ben. But I'm not a good liar.'

'Neither am I! So, what should we do? Would you like to see a movie with me? I've wanted to watch "Cheesy A" for so long!' Benjamin inched closer to Mansa and stood on tip toes again, waiting expectantly for the buffalo's answer.

Mansa's heart melted at the sight of those big brown eyes, still wet from the tears he shed before. Tiny drops stuck to his thick eyelashes and glistened under the gym's bright lighting.

'Let's go.'

* * *

It was Thursday. Adira finally had the chance to talk to Bogo in person,

'You said the training was making good progress. What do you actually mean?'

'I… Adira, he will pass no matter what happens. He lifted my dumbbells on the first day!'

'So what did you give him to do afterwards?'

'We saw a movie.'

'What! I told you give training to him not let him slack off!'

'I'm sorry, Adira. I couldn't resist his eyes.'

Adira knew exactly what he meant. She said darkly, 'You didn't let him have popcorn and soda, did you? Probably not. I don't see you much as a "snacky" mammal.'

Mansa kept his mouth shut. The fact was that he shared a huge bucket of popcorn with Benjamin during the movie and licked their fingers clean after devouring it all.

'He did well yesterday, so keep doing what you do with him. He deserves a rest. Just don't let him have any snacks. A lighter body makes my job so much easier.'

Mansa could only look at her with his mouth sealed tight. He already bought a large selection of jelly to share with Benjamin later.

'Anyway, Ben being overweight finally paid off. Who would have thought? Gosh, I just hate to be the bad cop, especially when you are not supposed to be the good one!'

* * *

Mansa continued to slip Benjamin snacks every 'training'. It seemed to help Benjamin than hurt his performance, as Adira happily reported to Mansa how much his stamina improved.

Adira need not know their little secret, Mansa decided, as he watched Benjamin blissfully eating his fill of donuts in his house. It's better for all of them.


	11. Chapter 11

After a few hours of persuasion from Benjamin, Mansa registered an account on the Gazelle Fan Club website. He decided not to use his real name due to security reasons, and to be honest he was still uncomfortable with sharing his interest with others.

What if somebody at work sees him online, he thought. It wasn't long after he verified his account via email when somebody messaged him.

CHEEtah: Heya,! I'm the chairperson of the one and only Gazelle Fan Club. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or post it on the forum! I'd happy to help. Until then, enjoy your stay at this fantabulous website!

Mansa stared at the screen for quite a while before awkwardly typing:

BUFFalo: Hi.

CHEEtah: Oh wow, ur one of the few who actually replies. Others think it is generated message and ignore me

BUFFalo: So it's not?

CHEEtah: Ofc it is -_- how am I supposed to copy/paste msgs to everyone who comes online

BUFFalo: I'll see another randomly generated message from you tomorrow?

CHEEtah: For u I can type sth new every day. But u only, I don't really get paid to do this

Mansa didn't know what to reply, so he closed the chat window and moved on. After clicking on the forum to check on the latest news of Gazelle, he found that the editor didn't filter comments properly. Hate speech was everywhere and whoever CHEEtah was tried to defend Gazelle in every way he could.

He's got heart, Mansa thought while he scrolled through the forum. For a guy who isn't getting paid he is doing an excellent job.

* * *

'How did Ben do at the academy exam?' Mansa asked Adira over lunch a few months after Benjamin practically vanished for training, 'He passed, right?'

'He did pass, but he was the slowest of all to get through the obstacle course. He also got the highest death count in the history of all academy cadets. You gotta give him credit, Mansa. He survived through the worst.' Adira pried a fishbone out of her teeth before attacking the baked potato, 'On a happier note, full marks in target practice, radio communication and close combat.'

'Excuse me?'

'I asked him how. He wouldn't tell me, at least he didn't know. But thank god he won the fights. He would have failed without it.'

'He's being humble?'

Adira shook her head, 'He's not a good liar. I would know if he is hiding something. No, he really has no idea how he had won. Maybe he fainted mid-fight and sat on his opponent.'

Benjamin really doesn't seem the brawling type, Mansa scratched his chin in deep thought, and gave up. He took out his phone and started scrolling through the Gazelle fan club forum again. Looks like Gazelle just released the outtakes of her new MV and CHEEtah engaged in a fierce battle with a dedicated hater on the post.

He cracked a rare smile after seeing a message from CHEEtah.

CHEEtah: Help me annoy dis guy borntobewild. Just type sth to him one alphabet at a time

BUFFalo: On it.

Adira was annoyed with Mansa playing with his phone instead of talking to her. She cleared her throat and wondered loudly,

'The chief asked me out. Should I go?'

Mansa's hooves slipped on the phone, 'NO! What?'

'I asked the chief to recruit Ben to the first precinct. He told me he would if I go out with him.'

'You said yes?'

'I said I would consider it if Ben really comes here.'

'Good. I don't like him. Make him wait, and suffer.'

Adira narrowed her eyes, 'Come on he's not that bad. Any other boss would have fired you long ago.'

'He didn't. That's his problem, not mine.' Mansa said indifferently while spamming messages to borntobewilde.

'You're such a child.' Adira watched him type 'GO TO HELL' one character at a time and sending each out.


	12. Chapter 12

Benjamin was thrilled to start his first day at the ZPD. To think that he could actually wear the uniform and chase after bad guys, he wondered if Gazelle would finally notice him.

That meant that he would have less time to work on the fan club website though. Hope Gazelle understands, he thought as he buckled his belt with some difficulty.

Officers at the bullpen were pretty polite to him, mostly because of Adira. Benjamin walked straight at Mansa and greeted him enthusiastically,

'Morning, Mansa! See? Here I am, finally a cop.' and he did a little spin to show off his uniform.

'Congratulations. You are quite something to make it here.' Mansa said, 'You're lucky. All of the parking duty is reserved for the wolves for howling during nightshift until the chief says otherwise.'

'No one wants your meter maid photos, Ben.' Adira greeted Mansa before sitting down beside Benjamin, 'That's why you'll probably never have the chance to wear the cute orange coat.'

'Oh, I'm not cute?' Benjamin pouted, 'Not good enough of a model, huh?'

'You are. But the others don't think so. You might have to rethink about the prospect of finding a boyfriend here, Ben. They don't seem interested.' Adira patted his shoulder.

Benjamin disagreed. The whole station of cops and none of them like him? Mansa was alright, why aren't the others treating him the same way?

* * *

Benjamin knew all along being a cop was tough, but he didn't think he would face such a big dilemma the first day at work.

He followed Mchorn to patrol all morning with a gradually hungrier stomach. All seemed calm and normal until they saw the door to Nutty Creations Bakery open with a bang and an otter scurried hurriedly out to the street.

'Thief! Come back!'

Mchorn pulled out his radio, 'This is officer Mchorn. We have a 484. Hey!'

Benjamin lunged after the thief. It would be nice if he caught the thief and went on headlines.

Mchorn decided to let Benjamin do the job. There's no way an otter could outrun a cheetah.

Benjamin followed the thief into the alleys and cornered her after a short chase. He took out the handcuffs.

'No, please. Don't do this!' The otter pleaded. She trembled at the sight of the dangling metal, hugging a paper bag tightly.

'I'm sorry, madam, but you broke the law.' Benjamin's nose twitched at a familiar smell, 'Wait, is that bread in the bag?'

'It's just bread. Please don't arrest me. My husband was injured at work and we gave up everything to pay the bills. We have two starving children and I have no choice. Please, let me go back to my babies.'

'I…' Benjamin couldn't bear to be so cruel. He heard the shuffling of heavy feet. Mchorn must have grew impatient and decided to check on him.

'Hide, quickly!' He whispered urgently. The otter scurried into his uniform through the collar.

'Clawhauser, where's the otter?' Mchorn was disappointed.

'Sir… I lost her.' Benjamin tried to hide his face by lowering his head. Having an otter in his uniform felt itchy and he didn't want Mchorn to see him making funny faces.

Mchorn gave a grunt of disapproval, 'Seems like good cops don't run in family. You're nothing like your sister, fat cat.'

Benjamin followed Mchorn moodily back to the cruiser.

'Thank you so much.' The otter whispered before dropping onto the ground. She hurried home to check on her family, unbeknownst to the polar bears that visited her home.

* * *

Mansa was surprised to see Benjamin in records when he went down to search for past crime files.

'What are you doing here?'

'The chief told me to work here for now. Mchorn doesn't want to lead me anymore because I let an otter go.'

'Wait he called a petty theft in the morning, you let the thief go?'

'She had a starving family, Mansa. I couldn't do it.'

'Ben…' Mansa sighed, 'This is another tough part of being a cop. You can't just let a criminal go just because he is in a difficult situation. Guilty or not it's up to the jury to decide, not us.'

'It's a she, and I know.' Benjamin never hated himself for being soft-hearted, 'I just can't convince myself to cuff her, not when she's pleading like that. I don't want to lose the most precious part of me as a mammal.'

'Give it time, Ben. For now I'm going to talk to Mchorn and the chief. No matter how badly you performed this just isn't right.'

'Thanks, Mansa. I don't want sis to worry about me.' Benjamin opened a file and began arranging the contents, 'Don't tell her about this, okay?'

'She's going to find out regardless.' Mansa said as he opened the door.

He saw Mchorn immediately after he closed the door.

'I'd like to have a word with you.' Bogo paused to see the rhino nod, 'about Clawhauser.'

'What about him?'

'You can't just ditch him like that, no matter how bad he is.'

Mchorn looked at him incredulously, 'You're the one who wanted to ditch the other Clawhauser when she first came here and now you're telling me I can't leave this useless pile of fat behind?'

Mansa's nostrils flared at the last few words. He snarled, 'Apologise to Clawhauser for what you just said, both of them.'

'What if I say no?'

'Apologise, or fight me.' Mansa raised his fist.

Mchorn looked at his arm for a second before admitting defeat, 'I'd apologise.'

He opened the records door and went in.

'Thank you.' Mansa said with satisfaction.

Time to pay a visit to the chief again, Mansa cracked his knuckles and started walking upstairs.


	13. Chapter 13

'Benjamin didn't break any rules. You can't move him to records.' Mansa folded his arms and glared at the chief.

'You think I would want to desert Adira's brother? The fact is nobody wants him as partner anymore. There's no job left for him to do other than records.'

'What does Adira say?'

'She doesn't know, yet. But there's nothing she can do to help.' the chief sighed, 'She's not allowed to lead Benjamin because conflict of interests.'

'What about me?'

'You? You want me to pay for more things you wreck because of a new partner?' the lion shook his head in disbelief, 'And you would like to trade Adira for her much less capable brother? I don't think so.'

'That is exactly my wish.'

The chief flashed his most iconic grin, 'But he's been assigned to records for the whole week. As his partner you'll have to work with him down there. Still interested?'

Mansa audibly ground his teeth. He knew the chief was tormenting him for how he treated the lion in the past, but he was determined to keep Benjamin company, 'Deal.'

'Splendid. You'll be assigned to records starting from tomorrow.' The chief was pleasantly surprised.

* * *

'So you managed to not break his nose?'

Adira and Mansa were patrolling the streets on the same cruiser without a radio. It was the last day of their partnership.

'If he did insult Ben I would crush him. But he was pretty polite to Ben…'

'Because of me.' Adira snarled, 'That's a very dick move by him, putting both of you to records. If no one takes Ben he can just force someone to. He's the boss!'

'He knew I would volunteer.' Mansa said bitterly, 'He knew I wouldn't just let your brother get stuck alone at records the first week as a cop because we're partners.'

Adira digested all this. Was she really that important to him that Mansa willingly sacrificed his career for her brother?

'Hang on, can you stop here?' Mansa pulled up the car upon hearing Adira's request.

Adira opened the door and walked into a CD shop. She returned a short while later, clutching a square prism wrapped in Gazelle gift paper.

'What is this, farewell gift?' Mansa asked when she climbed back onto her seat, 'I thought you hated Gazelle.'

'I do. This is for Ben, birthday this Saturday.' Adira carefully placed the present next to her, 'I thought you aren't into sappy stuff like farewell gifts.'

'No.' Mansa stepped on the gas pedal, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a tiny bit hopeful that the present was for him.

* * *

Mansa took out his phone later that night and saw 5 messages from CHEEtah.

CHEEtah: Hey I got 2 front row seats for the Gazelle concert at Sahara Square this Saturday. Care to join me?

CHEEtah: We fought so many battles on the forum together. I'd like to meet u

CHEEtah: Why aren't you replying my messages, are u sick?

CHEEtah: OMG plz don't be sick

CHEEtah: Hello?

BUFFalo: Hi. Sorry for not replying. I didn't get to use my phone the whole day.

CHEEtah: I have lots of time to use my phone though. Work is so boring!

CHEEtah: So, u free this Saturday night?

BUFFalo: Yes.

CHEEtah: YAY that's settled then. I'll send u the details later

Mansa smiled. As much as he hated the records, at least he had something to look forward to this week. This CHEEtah person reminded him of Benjamin. Maybe he'll invite Ben along to the concert tomorrow.

BUFFalo: Do you have access to more tickets? I have a friend that also loves Gazelle a lot.

CHEEtah: Sorry 2 is the max I can get :(

BUFFalo: K

* * *

Mansa sought out Adira from the crowd of officers the next morning.

'Adira, I want to ask you something.'

'What is it?'

'I want to treat a friend to dinner in Sahara Square. Do you know any good places that open until late at night?'

'Hmm… if you're looking for fine-dining, ask Ben. He's the connoisseur, not me.'

'I'll be sure to ask him. Thanks.'

Mansa walked down to the records room and sat down next to Benjamin.

'Hey, Ben. I'm looking for a place for dinner in Sahara Square. I want to treat a friend to dinner really late into the night.'

'Oh there's a place that I really like to go for midnight snacks. It caters for both predators and prey! Whoever your friend is will love it!'

'Name of the restaurant?'

'Palm Lobster.'

Mansa put on his glasses and marked it down on a notepad.

'I like your glasses, so cute!' Benjamin said, putting his on.

'Um… thanks.' Mansa's ears turned red, 'I like yours too.'

They quickly grew silent after sorting files for a while. Mansa was starting to get a little heat stressed. His ears grew hot and sweat steadily dripped onto the files he was working on.

'Mansa, are you okay? You look a little flustered.' Benjamin stood up and touched Mansa's forehead, 'Oh my god you're having a fever. I'll go get us some water. BRB!'

Benjamin ran straight to the pantry. He let out a sigh of relief when he exited the records room. The room was musty and lukewarm and definitely not mammal-friendly.

He found a water dispenser and cups at the pantry. That is not going to last long, he tilted his head in thought as he saw how small the cups are. He went straight for the water gallons and started to drag one back with some difficulty.

He had to take a drink from the gallon on his way back. The bottle was a bit large for him to handle.

* * *

Benjamin returned and saw Mansa laying his head on the table.

'Mansa, I'm back!' He put down the bottle and patted the buffalo a few times.

'You got the water?' Mansa asked weakly as he slowly pulled himself up.

'I got a whole gallon. You don't mind if I already drank some straight from the bottle? I can go back for a cup if you…'

Mansa grabbed the gallon with shaking hands and started drinking deeply.

'Whoa slow down, Mansa.' Benjamin helped hold the bottle steady as Mansa took large gulps of water, 'You don't want to get water down the wrong pipe.'

'glug, glug, glug, Awk COUGH COUGH cough…' Mansa choked on water.

'My god. Are you alright?' Benjamin rubbed his back hard. He read online not to pat a choking mammal.

'Thanks.' The buffalo replied raspily as he continued to cough.

'Well how are we doing today boys?' Adira opened the door with a bang and strode in. She froze as she saw Benjamin's paws still on the other mammal's back.

'Sis, why is the room so hot? Mansa nearly died from heat stroke just now.' Benjamin continued rubbing Mansa as he asked.

'You're sitting by the boiler, Ben. And you two smell.' Adira wrinkled her nose, 'Were you two doing something weird just now?'

'Fuck… the… boiler…' Mansa managed to speak.

'Don't think about breaking it, Mansa.' Adira warned him, 'There's a reason why the chief installed it a few months ago.'

'Cops… no… need… hot… showers…'

'Come on, it's something that only girls understands. There're days in a month when you absolutely need to take hot showers, okay? So don't think about wrecking the boiler, or the whole station of girls would be after your tail.'

Mansa finally stopped coughing, 'Wait is that blood on your knuckle?'

'Oh yeah it is. I bashed the chief's nose in for you.' Adira looked at her fist fondly before continuing, 'In return, can you do me a favor?'

'Anything, Adira, after what you did for me.'

'Ben is going to a concert with a friend he met online this Saturday. Can you go with him? I don't want him to get into any trouble with the stranger. Keep him safe, okay?'

'But sis, like I said I don't have any more tickets!' Benjamin whined, 'I like Mansa to go with me but how can he find a ticket in four days? They're sold out days ago!'

'It's fine, Ben. A friend of mine has ticket for me.' Mansa remembered the conversation he had with CHEEtah, 'I'll go with you on Saturday.'

'Aw really? This is going the best birthday ever!' Benjamin cupped his face eagerly, 'I can't wait for Saturday to come!'

'Alright so that's settled then. Enjoy your date, both of you!' Adira giggled and left the room.

'Hold on…' Mansa called after Adira, but the door had already closed. He turned his head and saw Benjamin still cupping his chin and staring lovingly at him.

'It's a date, right?' Benjamin asked hopefully.

Mansa couldn't help but admire how cute Benjamin looked. His eyes, his cheeks, his spots, his silky fur…

'It's a date.' Mansa's chest grew fuzzily warm when he thought about the happy date they're planning.

The date that neither of them attended.


	14. Chapter 14

Adira left home for work extra early the next day. She left a note for Benjamin,

'Ben, tuna sandwich today for breakfast. Don't stop on your way for donuts or you'll be late.

Love, ADR'

She stepped into records and checked the surveillance camera. She chuckled when she saw the camera completely blocked by mounds of unsorted reports,

'Aw, poor thing.' She pulled out her pack of non-washable markers, 'But it makes things so much easier.'

The chief was not going to be pleased to see what she did to the boiler.

* * *

Mansa nearly laughed when he saw the boiler on his way to records.

'LIONFART', the words on the boiler read. To top it off there were comically drawn lions doing exactly what the word said all over the sides, top and even bottom, Benjamin reported as he lied down and checked.

'The chief is going to be so mad!' Benjamin continued to giggle gleefully after sitting down.

Mansa was in a pretty good mood after seeing the heavily graphitized boiler. He had a dozen gallons of water on standby around him, and Ben was by his side. Nothing could possibly go wrong for this week. When it's finally over, he was going to take Benjamin out in the fields and fight crime together, he thought as he cleaned up the pile of paperwork on the table.

'Mansa, the chief wants to see you.' Adira opened the door and called.

'Nice job on the boiler, sis!' Benjamin gave her thumbs up and a huge grin, 'I finally know what mammal you're drawing!'

'Thanks, Ben. I've been practicing.' Adira said as she saw Mansa rise up and walk to the door, 'See you at lunch!'

Adira and Mansa walked upstairs together.

'Thanks for everything.'

'It's nothing… I have my own grudges against the chief as well.'

'Well, be careful out there without me.'

They bade goodbye and Mansa continued climbing the stairs.

'Good, Bogo, you're finally here.' The chief was reading a report intently.

'What is it this time, Lionfart?'

The lion stood up and roared, 'Nobody else but Adira can use that nickname!'

Mansa snorted in disdain, 'How old are you, ten?'

'It's an absolute honor to be branded with a nickname by your lover.' The chief said solemnly, 'Only Adira and her alone can call me with that exquisite name.'

Mansa felt like the chief was a little love immobilized.

'Can we go back to why I'm here?' Mansa reminded the lion.

'Right, I need you for an operation on Thursday night.' The chief sat down and turned the computer screen to Mansa, 'I have reliable sources that confirm a drug deal is going to happen at one of the warehouses near the docks.'

'Back in action so soon? I thought you'd rather me stay in records forever.'

'I don't deny it. But I need you for this drug bust. After all you're our best at assaulting criminal bases.'

'Anything else?'

'Nothing in particular, you're dismissed.'

Mansa stood up.

'Hang on. Take care of Adira. She's on your team.' The chief requested.

'Of course I will.'

* * *

Benjamin was still fast asleep when Adira got up and changed for the operation. She left him another note before heading out,

'Ben. Don't worry, gone out due to ZPD work.' She hesitated before adding, 'See you at bullpen next morning.

Love, ADR'

Adira assembled with the others and listened to Mansa's briefing, 'Our primary objective is to recover or destroy the drugs involved in this deal. Take fire necessarily but do not use excessive violence…'

She felt uneasy. It was the first time she was recruited for one of these drug busts for the three years she'd been at the ZPD.

She was still nervous when they sneaked inside the warehouse to prepare traps and supplies around the area.

Mansa nervously watched his men work. He never received any info on how much gunfire the gangs would be packing. He gave the officers the best they could have: armor, guns, med kits...

It was going to be fine, he told himself over and over again, not showing his anxiety to the others.

They hid in the shadows after the preparation was complete. Mansa perked his ears and heard one, two… and more cars pulling up outside the warehouse, too many in fact.

Mansa watched from the laptop as the gang members walked in and showed each other the money and the packs of powder. Suddenly they pulled out their guns and one of them aimed at the camera the ZPD officers set up.

The first shot was fired and the laptop's screen went black.

More gunshots followed suit. It became an all-out gunfight.

Mansa pulled out his radio, 'This is Officer Bogo. Hostiles heavily armed, we're under fire. Requesting backup, over.'

But there was no response.

'Sir, they have jammed our signals!' A wolf told Mansa in a panicky voice and he ducked under cover and tried to shoot back at the dozens of guns pointing at their direction.

The gunfire got sparse after a while, as the officers reported to Mansa some of the gangsters walked into Adira's traps and they were attempting to free their friends and scan the area for more booby traps.

If this was in the past, Mansa would just go out alone and try to brute force his way through the gangs. It was easy to disobey his senior's orders and fight alone, as he was only responsible for himself. But now he was leading a team. The team's lives depended on his orders.

Adira went to Mansa after dashing across an exposed area, 'We need to call for backup. We're outnumbered and we don't have much time left before they rush us!'

'The radio's jammed. We can't get a single word out.'

'I have my phone with me. Cover me and I'll try calling outside the jammer's radius.'

'Which way? You can't get past the wall of guns!'

Adira pointed back at the sea, 'My phone is waterproof.'

'Ready?' Adira prepped her gun and Mansa punched through the back wall.

Mansa didn't like aiming for the head, but two shots later the gangsters guarding outside were dead.

Adira jumped into the water and swam a good distance away from the shore. She tapped the first mammal on her contact list as Mansa stood guard,

'Come on…' She muttered, 'Ben, take the phone…'


	15. Chapter 15

Ben was woken up by the loud ringing from his phone. He answered it sleepily,

'Sis?'

'Ben, just listen. Call the ZPD for us. We're at the warehouse near the Harbour Street and our radio has been jammed. We need backup immediately...' And the signal was lost.

'Sis? Adira?' Benjamin tried to call his sister again, but he couldn't reach her. He tried the ZPD hotline instead.

'This is the ZPD emergency hotline, how may I help…'

'This is Officer Clawhauser. Something went wrong at the drug bust at Harbour Street and their radio's jammed. Send help now!' Benjamin yelled into the phone as he rushed out of the house.

'Acknowledged, sending backup pronto.'

Benjamin drove to the warehouse at full speed. The sound of sirens drew nearer and nearer and he could hear gunshots outside the warehouse. He sped through the police line and ducked when the gangsters fired at his car. The front glass shattered but the car kept roaring forward. With a yelp he crushed the three mammals shooting at him against a wall.

The airbag exploded in his face, saving him from crashing head first into the wall. Benjamin was dazed by the crash, but he had no time to waste. He took one of the guns from one of the gangsters crunched between his car and the warehouse and hurried inside.

He hid behind some boxes after entering the building. He was slowly creeping around the sides to the back of the warehouse when a gun suddenly pointed inches away at him.

Benjamin jumped in panic and calmed down after seeing the mammal holding the gun. Mansa gestured Benjamin to their hiding place as he lowered the gun. Benjamin covered his mouth in horror as he saw the rest of the officers slumped against boxes or the wall with blood all over the floor.

'We kept fighting when they searched for our hiding spot and lost officers one by one after calling you.' Adira said sadly.

'They're not dead yet, Ben.' Mansa clarified the situation, 'but if they find out we're the only ones left fighting we're all gonna die.'

'We tried to fool them with this.' Adira held up her phone, which was playing out gunshots repeatedly, 'So we can buy time to patch up whoever we can. But they'll realize soon. You already called the ZPD, right?'

'I did. They're fighting outside, trying to get in.' Benjamin took a good look at both of them. Adira looked unscathed, though sodden and shaken. Mansa, however, was stained in blood and had bandages all over his body.

'So all we can do now is to hole up and wait for reinforcements to enter.' Mansa concluded painfully.

'Duck!' Mansa bellowed. Adira and Benjamin lied down immediately as Mansa opened fire. The bullet hit a panda in the stomach and he doubled up in pain.

'You… didn't kill him right?' Benjamin asked fearfully as he stood up and watched the panda squirm.

'What are you doing, Adira?' Mansa pulled her back as she tried to approach the panda with a med kit.

'He's gonna die if we don't stop his bleeding.' Adira struggled against the buffalo's tight grasp, 'Ben, cover me while I work on his wound.'

Mansa wouldn't let go, 'He's still dangerous, and he's a criminal. He deserves it!'

'No, Mansa. I can't just sit here and watch him bleed out.'

Mansa sighed and released her. He raised his gun again, 'I'll take the left. Ben, watch the right.'

Benjamin took up firing position beside Adira and froze. He saw a bear turning around the corner and was about to see them. He aimed his gun at the bear's head and his hand trembled.

The bear shouldered her gun and was about to shoot Benjamin when she saw Adira bandaging her friend. She hesitated.

'Thank you for helping my friend.' The bear tried to smile at her friend's savior. Adira looked up from the wounds she'd been working on and saw Benjamin still aiming at the bear.

'Ben, lower your gun. She's not gonna shoot us.'

Benjamin lowered his pistol as he was told, 'You're friendly?'

'I guess I am.' The bear too lowered her gun, but it misfired half way pointing at the ground and shot Adira.

'No! I…' The bear panicked and disappeared among the pile of boxes.

'No! Sis!' Benjamin immediately knelt down to check on Adira. His heart pummeled as he saw blood spilling quickly out of her body, 'No no no no, please don't die! Mansa, what do I do?'

Mansa, too knelt down and shielded both of them with his body, 'We have to stop the bleeding, now. Ben, use the cotton…'

Ben was stemming Adira's bleeding with his hands when he heard a grunt of pain from Mansa. A stray bullet pierced straight through his right chest and he collapsed onto Benjamin.

Benjamin held him up with difficulty using his left paw, the other paw still pressing onto Adira's wound, 'Mansa, what's wrong?' He felt his fur slowly soaking in warm liquid.

Mansa tried to speak, but was overcome by the pain in his lung and coughed blood all over Benjamin's frightened face.

Confusion, despair, hatred… Benjamin felt the world spinning around him. The taste of buffalo blood in his mouth reminded him of something, something primal…

He lost control.

Mansa slumped forward on the floor after losing Benjamin's support. The cheetah had already got down on all fours and pounced at the attackers.

'Ben, don't…' Mansa said weakly as Benjamin left his slowly dimming vision.


	16. Chapter 16

The gangsters scurried apart fearfully as they saw a heavy, crazed cheetah thundering at them.

Benjamin pounced at the gangsters and slammed one of the gunners against the wall with his heavy paws.

The others tried to shoot him, but he darted around them and got out of sight.

Benjamin knew not to fight fully alerted enemies. Hunt for the wounded and weakened ones first.

So he went straight for the gangsters hung up by Adira's traps. He sank his teeth into a zebra's neck and tore her throat out.

The zebra's friends tried to save her, but their sight was snatched by Benjamin's claws, their guns dropped and body torn apart by the cheetah.

Cheetahs didn't have the sharpest claws in the room, but his claws were plenty unfriendly around eyeballs. The gangsters felt a shadow whisk past them, a swipe and they never saw anything else ever again. They tried to shoot blindly and ended up wounding each other.

He killed all of them in frenzy, each and every gangster that tried to fight back or run. He was not satisfied, the bear was missing.

He ran around the warehouse trying to find her, his eyes darting left and right in search for the large mammal. At last he smelled fear from a room. She was cornered.

'I swear it was an accident. I didn't mean to shoot her!' The bear pleaded to the slowly approaching cheetah, his mouth dripping blood as he walked slowly towards his target slowly.

Benjamin didn't recognize her words. He only knew to kill this bear painfully and make her suffer.

She had no choice. She stood up and opened her arms in preparation for the fight.

Benjamin went straight for her exposed belly and bit into the soft layer of tissue. The bear tried to push him away and watched in horror as Benjamin yanked and tore a large hole in her belly.

There was a reason why mammals used to walk and fight on all fours. It was to protect their soft underside. Trust was established when predator and prey stood up.

The bear struggled and screamed as the cheetah dove his head in and maimed her insides.

As he mauled her intestines, Benjamin remembered about the wounded panda. The panda also had to pay. He prowled back into the house for the panda lying on the floor, leaving the limp body of bear behind. He leapt at the panda and was pulled backwards by the tail.

'You don't want to do this, Ben…' Mansa grabbed the tail as tightly as he could.

The cheetah hissed in annoyance. He tried to pull himself out of the grip and failed, his paws slipping on the floor. He lost his temper and slashed the buffalo's face.

Mansa tried to dodge the claws by yanking his head back as far as he could. The claws narrowly missed his eyes and left a deep gash on his ridge instead. Mansa gasped in agony after the sudden jerk and his chest felt as though stabbed with a burning poker. Benjamin's tail slipped out of his clutch as Mansa had no strength left in his hooves.

'Please…' Mansa begged one last time as Benjamin bared his fangs at the panda. The cheetah looked crossly back at Mansa upon his begging. All of a sudden Benjamin's consciousness returned for a split second, and he collapsed on Adira.

Mansa panted as his consciousness slipped bit by bit from him. He saw the pool of blood under Adira meet his and his heart sank.

It's all over. Mansa could hear hurried footsteps around him before blacking out, sinking deep down to a bottomless abyss… he couldn't breathe…

* * *

Benjamin heard from the other mammals that you don't feel anything when you are unconscious. It wasn't true.

He kept seeing his sister get shot, then Mansa. And he watched in disbelief as he saw himself rushing in to fight the gunners, tearing them limb from limb. Diving into the bear's belly to eviscerate her, his teeth sinking into warm and tender intestines, he could taste it in his mouth and to his disgust; he somehow enjoyed the sensation of biting into another mammal's insides.

The memories were in shambles, jumping from one place to another, and yet stubbornly haunted him without mercy.

Benjamin screamed in his nightmare. He wanted out. He was crying out tears and yet the images remained crystal clear in his dream. It lasted for an eternity before he felt his tears being wiped gently from his eyes.

He opened his eyes with difficulty. He felt the bright light and unfamiliar bed. He saw Mansa sitting in a hardback chair by his bed, looking at him gently. He was in a hospital.

'Where's sis?'

Mansa didn't answer. He was afraid that he might also break down in front of Benjamin. Benjamin saw his brown eyes staring at him apologetically and understood.

He cried more onto Mansa's chest. He couldn't stop himself. Mansa held Benjamin in a tight embrace and forced his own tears back,

'I'm sorry...'

Crying hurt, Benjamin felt as though his body was on fire as he sobbed and sniveled in Mansa's hug.

Mansa waited until Benjamin had calmed down slightly and poured him a cup of water, 'Try not to over exert yourself. You've overworked your muscles.' Mansa said in an attempt to change the topic.

Benjamin quietly sipped the cup of water. Besides the sorrow he had for his sister, he also had a burning question to ask.

'Mansa, I saw things before I woke up…'

'What did you see?' Mansa asked sharply.

Benjamin couldn't recall the fractured nightmare clearly, 'I saw myself biting at others and ate a bear's insides. You also appeared in the dream trying to stop me…'

'No!' Mansa shouted furiously.

Benjamin was scared of Mansa's expression and trembled.

Mansa began again, 'I mean. It's just a nightmare, Ben. The things you saw, they never happened, okay?'

Masna grabbed Benjamin by the shoulders and looked intently at the cheetah, 'Forget them, all of them. You fainted after Adira was shot, so whatever you saw is not real.'

Benjamin was still shaken by Mansa's reaction to his mention of a nightmare. But he trusted Mansa.

'It's just a bad dream.' Benjamin repeated to himself and Mansa.

Mansa nodded and stood up, 'I'll come back this evening.'

He limped out of the room.

Benjamin held up his paws with difficulty and inspected. He didn't see any trace of blood. Then he noticed his phone on the bedside cabinet. He reached painfully to the side to pick up the phone.

He swiped the lock and saw it was already Saturday. There were also 2 unread messages from BUFFalo.

BUFFalo Sorry but I have things to do on Saturday. I can't come to the concert with you.

BUFFalo My friend is in kind of a situation right now and I must take care of him.

CHEEtah It's okay I'm kinda in a situation right now. I can't go tonight either becoz I'm staying in hospital.

BUFFalo Do you need me to visit? I'm near the hospital.

CHEEtah No, I'm fine. My friend just left.

Benjamin paused a while before continuing,

CHEEtah Maybe it's fate that we don't get to meet each other. I'm afraid that everything would change if we see each other, like waking up from a good dream. I need every good thing in my life right now.

BUFFalo I understand.

Benjamin stared at the ceiling mindlessly for the rest of the afternoon, refusing meals and mourning Adira. It was until Mansa finally returned in the evening that he managed to crack a tiny smile,

'You came.' Benjamin noticed the addition of stars to Mansa's uniform.

'Sorry for being late, the station is extremely busy right now.' Mansa sat down, trying his best not to show his stress and exhaustion to Benjamin, 'I brought your favourite.'

Mansa fed Benjamin donuts for the rest of the evening until the nurses shooed Mansa away from the ward.


	17. Chapter 17

Mansa drifted in and out of sleep as he was carried onto the stretcher and ambulance. He could hear the first aiders talking to each other in a muffled voice as they worked on Adira,

'Blood pressure critically low!'

'Heartbeat stopped! Initiate defibrillation!'

'Don't give up, you can make it…'

* * *

'Sir, you need to stay in bed!'

Mansa fought the tranquilizers they used on him for the surgeries. He grunted in pain as the surgeons pulled bullets out of him one by one. The moment he woke up in bed he kicked the sheets off him and landed on the floor. Shockwaves of pain pulsed through his whole body, but he gritted his teeth tightly and limped forward. He had to know, Adira…

'Where's the cheetah that got send here?' He hammered the glass at the reception.

'Surgery room 6.' the nurse was intimidated.

Mansa dragged himself to the room the nurse told him. He was panting heavily and he saw through the stars in his head that the lights to the surgery room were already off.

The doctors were walking out shaking their head.

Mansa did not want to over think this, 'The cheetah, she survived?'

A doctor sighed, 'We did our best, but she lost it due to blood loss.'

'All the others are fine and only she's…' Mansa couldn't say the word. He coughed and spat his mouthful of blood on the floor.

'I'm sorry for your loss, but she's the smallest among all of you. No offence here but she bleeds out the fastest. That's just how it is. Now would you excuse me, sir, I have another surgery coming up.'

Mansa's heart pounded in his ears as he struggled into a lift. No, he would not accept that. He needed someone to blame, someone to unleash his rage on and hurt without remorse.

He opened the door to a taxi and climbed in, panting shallowly,

'ZPD headquarters.'

The hippo in the driver's seat turned his head back in concern, 'Are you alright?' Mansa was still wearing hospital clothes and wheezing in his seat painfully.

'NOW!' Mansa's bellowed angrily, his eyes flashing red.

The hippo gulped and pushed the lever to D for 'driving'. He decided that the buffalo in his car was not one to be reasoned with.

* * *

Mansa took the lift to the chief's office, the first time in his whole career. He pushed the door and saw the lion sitting in his chair in defeat.

'Where were you the whole time?' Mansa grabbed the chief by the collar and winced, giving in to the pain in his chest.

'I was fighting their reinforcements on the way to the warehouse.' Chief Lionheart looked at Mansa with bloodshot eyes, 'What happened in there? Nobody else can tell me.'

Mansa saw he had injuries of his own. He slid onto the floor slowly and began talking.

Lionheart's eyes widened with fear as he heard Mansa repeat what happened at the warehouse.

'And Ben murdered them all, each and every one of them. I tried to stop him from killing the bear too, and he stopped. He wasn't himself at that time. It was until the last moment that he reverted back to himself.'

'Has Benjamin awoken yet?' Lionheart asked.

'I haven't checked.' Mansa was now worried about the mental state of Benjamin, 'But he mustn't know about what he did to the criminals. He had already lost his sister…'

'No!' the chief groaned and covered his face with his paws, 'Why her?'

Mansa said nothing as the lion sobbed. He was too hurt to care anymore.

Lionheart stopped crying rather quickly. It was not the first time he encountered this.

'The public cannot know about this public mauling from one of our officers. We must keep the collateral damage at minimum, both for Benjamin and for the ZPD.' The chief dried his eyes with a napkin.

Lionheart heaved a sigh, 'There's only one way to do this, and I need your help, Bogo.'

Mansa looked up upon his words.

'We need a hero in this incident, to explain how we defeated the gangs. It'll have to be you in place of Benjamin. I must resign. Your job is to blame everything bad that happened on me.'

'No, I can't do that.' Mansa was horrified by the idea.

'You don't understand. I have to put a D notice on this incident to stop this from spreading to the public. But they will be asking for a mammal to take responsibility for Adira's death, and a news headline tomorrow. I have to be out there, taking the blame. I'm entrusting the ZPD to you, Bogo. Can you be the chief after I'm gone?'

'I…' Mansa was overcome by the information, 'I... don't know.'

'Please, if you want to save Benjamin and all of us, this is the only way.' Lionheart squatted down in front of Bogo, 'I know you don't lie. But this is for Adira, and the whole ZPD.'

Mansa thought of how Adira would react to this. She always hated dishonesty, but now he had no choice.

'I have to try.' Adira would forgive him. It's all for Ben.

'Thank you.' The lion patted his shoulder lightly and stood up, 'I'm going downstairs to the armory for your new uniform. You need to rest, Bogo. When morning comes we'll have to face the press.'

Mansa was left in the room all by himself. It would be his office soon. Loneliness loomed over him and warm liquid finally trickled down from his eyes.

He couldn't control his emotions anymore, now that he was all alone in a dark room. He bawled, crying all his sorrow and frustration out. His screams reverberated in the spacey office. It hurt a lot to yell, but Mansa didn't care. He cried himself to sleep.

Lionheart could hear Mansa's hollering as he walked along the corridor, but moved on forward regardless. There's nothing he could do to lessen the buffalo's pain, only time could heal his wounds.

Lionheart knew it too well, so he must focus on the task at hand. Mansa was in no condition to properly answer the reporters' questions. He would have to do it for the new chief, so nobody else would know what happened last night.


	18. Chapter 18

Mansa woke with a start.

The effect of pain relievers was long gone. He felt as though his chest was splitting in half.

He tried to get up, and fell back onto the floor. He could only sit there and wait, as agony pulsed through his whole body. His heart pounded ferociously to supply enough oxygen to keep his miserable self alive, his throat parched and he just wanted to die.

Lionheart knocked on the door. Nobody answered. When he saw Mansa panting on the floor clutching his wound, he immediately called a team of doctors to work on him.

Only one hour more to go until the press conference, Lionheart had to patch Mansa up to at least stay conscious for 10 minutes in front of the reporters.

Mansa felt dizzy and dazed under the never-ending flashlights of the cameras. Lionheart excused the reporters for not having Mansa say anything, explaining that the officer that led the team to the successful drug bust was still too shocked by the loss of his partner to answer any questions. He claimed to bear all responsibility for losing one precious member of the force, telling the reporters that the main cause was because of his inaccurate intel.

* * *

Mansa was glad that the interviews were finally over. He had other things to do other than covering up the incident.

Mansa called his old friend, detective Oates, to investigate on the reason behind Benjamin's sudden change of behavior.

'I want you to find out why one of my officers went savage. Benjamin Clawhauser, cheetah, aged 24.'

'Bogo? You haven't called ever since I became a private detective and now you're asking for my help? Didn't you despise investigators like me? The ZPD can't do it?'

Mansa had no energy to retaliate anymore. He just stayed silent.

'Fine, a case is a case. I assume you'll be treating me to a drink one day for this.'

'I'm recruiting you to the ZPD.' Mansa promised, 'I've heard of the cases you solved, innocents you helped. Why don't you join us?'

'I'm a free horse, Bogo. Reins don't fit me.' Oates chewed on his oat straw, 'But I'll help whenever you need it.'

'Thanks, it means a lot.'

He visited Benjamin at the hospital, to no avail. Benjamin was still unconscious, though Mansa could hear him moaning in his sleep. He couldn't do anything except hold the cheetah's paws, hoping to at least give him some comfort.

He called indoor designers to work on a front desk for the station. He needed a new position for Benjamin, free from harm and exempt from active duty. He would not allow anything to upset the poor cheetah anymore.

He visited the armory, requesting the development of tranquilizer dart guns in place of real guns. He wanted a safe and reliable way to stop savage mammals, if the same situation were to arise again. It could also work against criminals harmlessly.

He visited Benjamin again. He wiped tears off Ben's face and finally told him the bad news. Ben seemed to take the hit quite badly. Mansa was afraid of Ben's description of his nightmare. He told Ben the things he saw never happened.

It was the first time in many years that he lied so blatantly to another mammal.

He had a phone call from Oates after he left the hospital.

'Oates here, I found out something your friend.'

'What is it?' Mansa said quickly.

'Legends tell the tales of great warriors in the past, who were able to overpower whole armies empty-handed and their power was passed down along family. However, this phenomenon had disappeared for centuries. Your friend may be a distant descendant of those ancient families, if what you said is true.

'What can I do to prevent him from unleashing his… powers?'

'Keep him calm and happy. His rage can be unleashed in danger or if he loses something precious to him, like family. Speaking of which, you need to be careful too, Bogo.'

'What about me?'

Oates seemed reluctant to continue, 'Never mind, forget what I just said. Call me again if something as intriguing as this arises again.'

Bogo's name was also seen in the more obscure historic records, but Oates decided against telling the truth. From what he heard in the news, Mansa had enough worries of his own that he didn't want to add to his strain.

Mansa barely put down his phone when Lionheart called him to return to the station. The former chief went through all the standard procedures with Mansa to prepare him for the new position. When the buffalo clocked out it was already late in the evening.

He went back to the hospital, carrying a large box of donuts to share with Benjamin. Mansa unwillingly stood up and limped to the door when nurses came in for vital checkups, announcing the end of visit period. Mansa lowered his head as he went through the doorway and it was where he finally collapsed.

His wounded body couldn't keep up with him anymore.


	19. Chapter 19

The doctors were not happy with how Mansa's wounds worsened after he recklessly left the hospital. He was forced to stay in the ward, then at home until his wounds finally healed up.

Benjamin insisted on moving into Mansa's house so he could take care of the weakened buffalo. Lionheart gave them both long leaves so they could get a grip of themselves before returning to work.

Benjamin was an emotional wreck when they attended Adira's funeral. Sitting in a wheelchair, Mansa held Ben's paws tightly as he sobbed uncontrollably during the ceremony.

Mansa could see change in Benjamin after the funeral. Nursing Mansa gave Benjamin's life hope. His mental state recovered slowly but surely, just like Mansa's wounds.

When Mansa got better, he tried to cook something for Benjamin. It ended up with a mess in the kitchen and a rather unappetizing lump of grilled fish. Even though he was a vegetarian, Mansa could tell the food he made for Ben was awful. But Benjamin ate it all. Mansa ended up having nuts and herbs salad that Ben masterfully prepared for him.

When Mansa finally became strong enough to return to his post, Benjamin refused to go to work with him, saying that he needed a bit more time. Lionheart resigned and Mansa officially became the new chief.

Mansa regretted saying to Lionheart that he only sent officers off to die. Now he knew the responsibilities that the police chief needed to shoulder.

He opened Adira's locker at the girl's changing room after the night shift officers had left. He saw the same present Adira bought on their last day of patrol together, resting at the base of the locker. He took it out and weighed it in his hoof.

It was pretty heavy, he thought as he held the package. But whatever was inside the paper was Benjamin's to find out.

* * *

Mansa enjoyed living with Benjamin, but Mansa's house wasn't his home. He had his own family to return to, his own life to live. Benjamin couldn't depend on him forever.

Mansa told Benjamin seriously after dinner, as they washed the dishes,

'Listen, Ben. I'm forever thankful for all these time you've been taking care of me, but the time to part has come.'

Benjamin lowered his head as he listened to the inevitable, 'I know.'

'I can take care of myself alright now. Look, I'm strong now.' Mansa flexed. Benjamin didn't smile but Mansa swore he saw something sparkle in Ben's eyes.

'I'll pack after this.' Benjamin said as he dried a dish repeatedly.

'I'll help. Your parents would be glad to have you back.' Mansa kept mopping his dish with a cloth.

When they finally stopped drying the dishes over and over again, Mansa helped Benjamin pack his suitcase of clothes and pillows. Mansa drove him home and they bade goodbye at the door of Benjamin's apartment.

'I'll be expecting you at work tomorrow at 8, Ben.'

* * *

Mansa arrived early at the station the next day, as he always did.

He went down to the armory to check on the tranquilizer dart guns. He took one of the prototypes from Splinter. He tested it on a target dummy. Light, fast, accurate, it was the best he could have hoped for.

Mansa turned the gun over in his hooves and with a pang he saw Splinter had branded the codename 'ADR – 00' on the barrel. He wanted to ask Splinter about it, but the hedgehog was already gone.

He went upstairs shortly before 8 and saw Benjamin goggling at the new station Mansa installed.

'It's your place now. From now on you're our front desk cheetah, Ben- I mean, Clawhauser.'

Benjamin was amazed by the magnificence of the new front desk: giant circular table at the base, thick wooden pillar completed with the ZPD's badge in the middle, along with the concentric soft lighting above him. He sat down at the comfy seat and saw a complete radio system in front of him.

'All yours, Clawhauser, I've heard you got full marks in radio communication, wouldn't want to waste that talent.' Mansa said as he took out Adira's gift, 'And this is… Adira's birthday present to you.'

Benjamin let go of the microphone he was inspecting and accepted the present. He tore it open carefully and saw inside, a gorgeous Gazelle snow globe. Benjamin took it out of the box endearingly and placed it on the side of the table, so the globe was clearly seen but wouldn't get in the way of work.

'She'll be watching over you. So be strong, okay?' Mansa said gently.

Benjamin felt small, sitting at the front desk inside the grand hall of ZPD headquarters. He wanted a hug from Mansa, to cry and forget everything that happened in the past months. But he knew he can't.

'Mansa…' Benjamin tried to talk while holding back tears.

'Call me chief at work, Ben- I mean, Clawhauser.'

The buffalo standing next to him looked blurry, as Benjamin took a deep breath and said determinedly,

'I'll try my best, chief.'

THE END

(Stay tuned for Zootopia: ClawBogo Edition)


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